Container opening device



Jan. 19, 1937. c. H. GROUNDS I CONTAINER OPENING DEVICE Filed Oct. 20, 1955 INVENTOR Ill/111172? m I N ZAJVATTORNEY Patented Jan. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES CONTAINER OPENING DEVICE Charles H. Grounds,

Container Opening C'olonie, N. Y., assignor to Devices, Inc., New York,

N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 20, 1933, Serial No. 694,462

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for opening filled and sealed containers such as cartons or the like, and more particularly to improvements in devices for opening or slitting a' filled and sealed carton adjacent the edge thereof and utilizing the angularly related walls of said carton to guide the opening or slitting device therealong.

' Cartons'are usually constructed of corrugated cardboard of varying gages, or of fiber board of varying gages, depending on the strength desired for the carton. The former material lends itself readily to right angle bending and the formation of smooth rigid edges disposed substantially in the planes of adjacent walls of the carton and suitable therewith for guiding a cutting tool in a straight path. On the other hand, where the cartons are made of fiber board, the material must be scored before it is susceptible to bending into right angle form. Such scoring of the fiber board material results in the production of beaded or raised edges of substantial cross sections extending along the-margins of the fiber board carton and projecting beyond the planes of the adjacent walls thereof, .whichedges have heretofore caused a cutting implement or device guided along the margins of the carton to travel in an irregular path and thus produce a ragged cut and unnecessary resistance to the cutting or s1it-' ting operation.

tool has ever beendevised, heretofore, which is capable of being moved along the beaded or raised margins of a fiber board carton with satisfactory results, particularly as regards slitting or cutting the same in a straight line, nor one that 'is-adapted for use with fiber board cartons as well as with various other types of cartons including those made of corrugated cardboard or the like. 7

One object of the present invention is to provide a carton opening implement or device which may be used with cartons having either smooth rigid edges'disposed substantially in the planes of adjacent walls thereof, or beaded or projecting edges that extend along the margins of the carton, and which implement or device will seat flush against adjacent walls of either type of carton for movement along the same to slit it in a straight line parallel with the smooth rigid edge or the beaded or projecting edge as the case may be.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting implement or device which maybe employed to cut through sealed cartons having either smooth, rigid edges, or beaded or So far as I am aware, no implement or cutting raised edges and which, in either case, will produce a clean straightcutalong the margin of the carton. 1

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting implement or device which has 5 V a removable and replaceable cutting tool or blade and a mounting therefor such that said blade may be adjusted to always out along the edge of the carton regardless of the particular crossv sectional form of said edge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a carton opening or slitting device which will enable blades or cutting tools of different widths to be employed in accordance with variations in the thickness of material used in the '15 manufacture of the cartons.

Another object. of the present invention is to provide a carton opening or slitting device which embodies a toolcarrier made of spring metal or the like and so constructed that angularly re- 20 lated shoes or flanges thereof will always bear against adjacent walls of the carton with uniform pressure and regardless of irregularities in said walls or the edges of the carton.

Another object of the present invention is to 25 provide a carton opening or slitting device which embodies a spring metal blade or tool carrier having a hand grip formed thereon to enable expansion or contraction of angularly related shoes of said carrier in conformity with variations in 30 the carton edges and the adjacent walls along which said shoes travel.

These and other objects of the present invention will appear as the following description thereof proceeds, and in order to more clearly 35 understand said invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is a detail perspective view of a container cutting or opening implement constituting one embodiment of the present invention, and illustrating the use thereof in connection with a fiber board carton;

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but illustrating the container cutting or opening implement arranged for operation in connection with a corrugated cardboard carton of thinner gage than the fiber board carton shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawing, l designates a portion of a fiber board carton and 2 indicates the beaded or raised edge projecting therefrom and extending along the margin thereof (Figs. 1 and 2). In accordance with the present invention, a tool carrier, indicated broadly at 3, and made of sheet or other suitable metal of a springy nature, is shaped to span the raised or beaded edge 2 of the carton and be impelled along the latter by the hand of the operator. Preferably, the carrier 3 is formed from a single piece of the aforesaid metal rolled or otherwise suitably shaped to form integrally therewith, a tubular hand grip indicated broadly at d. The hand grip 4 has flexible webs 5 spaced apart to provide an open channel or throat 6 therebetween for receiving the beaded or raised edge 2 of the fiber board carton.

The webs 5 have shoes 7 and 8 extending at right angles to each other for sliding engagement with, and movement along, the adjacent angularly related walls of the carton. The webs 5 are preferably disposed in angular relation to receive the carton edge 2 and due to the springy nature of the metal, said webs may expand, or be contracted by grip 4, in conformity with the configuration of the edge and walls of the carton and thus facilitate uniform pressure of the shoes 7 and 8 on said Walls. The hand grip 4, is preferably rounded, as at 9, so that it may be firmly grasped by the operator, and the edges of the shoes 'I' and 8 are preferably curved, as at ill, to facilitate sliding of the latter over the edge of the carton into engagement with adjacent walls thereof.

Secured on the shoe 7 in any suitable manner, and projecting outwardly therefrom at right angles thereto, is a threaded stud ii that extends through an elongated opening 12 formed in and transversely of the vertical wall l3 of a bracket or tool holder which is indicated broadly at M and provided with a horizontal wall or tool supporting ledge l5. The wall or ledge 15 has secured thereto, or formed integrally therewith, a plurality of pins or studs I6 disposed on a line extending in angular relation with the carrier 3 and adapted to fit in suitable openings formed in a cutting tool I? which is supported on, and secured in horizontal position on, the ledge l5 as presently described.

The tool ll is preferably of the rectangular, razor-blade type slitter or cutter and the positions of the pins l6 and the openings in said blade are such that when the latter is mounted on the support or ledge l5, its cutting edge extends in a substantially horizontal plane at an angle of about 45 degrees with the plane of the shoe I and the adjacent wall of the carton. Further, the location of the pins I6 is such that when the slitting blade or cutter I1 is mounted on the ledge I5, it will extend through an opening 18 in the adjacent web 5 so as to out through a wall of the carton, adjacent the edge thereof, as the carrier 3 is moved along the same.

The slitting or cutting blade I! may be secured in its aforesaid horizontal and angular position on the ledge l5, by any suitable means, herein shown as a clamping plate l9 which has suitable openings formed therein to receive the pins l6, and is removably fastened on the ledge l5 by small machine screws 28, or the like. The bracket or tool holder l4, in turn, may be secured on the shoe 1 by any suitable means, herein shown as a wing nut 2i threaded on the stud II and tightened against the wall l3 of said bracket or tool holder to clamp the latter firmly against said shoe.

The cutting edge of the blade or slitter II, as

spasms before pointed out, extends at an angle to the shoe 1 and the adjacent wall of the carton, which arrangement, in accordance with the present invention, is for the purpose of enabling said blade to make a draw out in the carton when the device or implement is moved therealong. In accordance with the present invention, means are provided whereby the carton opening device or implement may be employed not only to slit or open cartons having smooth, rigid edges disposed substantially in the planes of adjacent walls of the cartons, or beaded or raised edges projecting therefrom, but also for opening or slitting cartons made of various materials and having walls varying in thickness in accordance with the size of the cartons or the particular materials employed in their manufacture. Said means preferably includes the slot l8 and the following instrumentalities.

Secured to or formed integrally with the shoe '1 are parallel ridges or projections 22 adapted to seat in parallel, elongated depressions 23 formed in \the bracket wall I3 at opposite extremities thereof. By loosening the wing nut 2|, the bracket or tool holder I 4 may be moved transversely of the shoe 1 and thus carry the blade or cutter l1 transversely of the slot I8 to different positions in accordance with the type of carton to be opened by the device. When the bracket or tool holder and the blade have been properly adjusted, the wing nut 21 is tightened to prevent accidental displacement of the blade and holder during the cutting or slitting operation. In Figs. 1 and 2, the blade or cutter and holder therefor are shown adjusted to proper position for slitting or opening a fiber boar-d carton having the above mentioned beaded or raised edge extending along the margin thereof. In Fig. 3 the blade or cutter 24 and holder I4 there for are shown adjusted to another position for opening or slitting a relatively thinner corrugated cardboard carton 25 having a smooth or rigid edge 26 disposed substantially in the planes of adjacent walls of said carton. The blade or cutter 24 has a width less than that of the blade or cutter I! but both blades are otherwise constructed and mounted in the same manner. These and similar blades of various sizes may, in accordance with the present invention, be employed as occasion may require.

In any case, the blade or cutter may, through the adjustment and changes provided, be positioned to make a clean draw out along the carton adjacent the edge thereof, and the present invention thus provides a carton opening or slitting implement which is adapted for use with various.

types of cartons, and whichmay be operated with minimum effort to open the variety of filled and sealed cartons handled in the packaging and other industries. It will further appear, that'the present invention provides a carton opening or slitting implement which not only has the advantages of universal'use as aforesaid, but at the same time affords the advantages incident to the use of replaceable blades or cutters.

One embodiment of the present invention, having the aforesaid advantages and uses, has been described and illustrated herein with more or less particularity, but it is to be expressly understood that said invention is not limited to said embodiment or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a carton opening implement, a cuttingangularly related shoes adapted for sliding engagement with adjacent wallsof the carton, a hand grip portion, and webs yieldably connecting said hand grip portion and said shoes for permitting acute or obtuse angular disposition of said shoes to conform to said carton walls when they are depressed or bulged.

2. In a carton opening implement, a carrier adapted to slide along a wall of a carton and having an opening, a cutting tool extending through said opening and movable'transversely thereof to a plurality of predetermined operative positions, a support for the cutting tool, locking means securing the support on the carrier and providing for adjustment of the support and the cutting tool to move the latter to each of its predetermined operative positions, and a plurality of means on the support and the carrier adapted for interfitting relation to position said cutting tool in any preselected operative position thereof.

3. In a carton opening implement, a carrier comprising angularly related shoes adapted to slide along adjacent walls of a carton, one shoe having an opening therein, a cutting tool extending through the opening in the shoe and movable transversely of said opening to a plurality of predetermined operative positions, a support for the cutting tool, locking means securing the support on said shoe and providing for adjustment of said support and the cutting tool to move the latter to each of its predetermined operative positions, and a plurality of channelled ridges or projections formed on the shoe and the support and adapted for interfitting relation to position said cutting tool in any preselected operative position thereof.

4. A carton opening implement adapted for opening a carton having a beaded or projecting edge comprising a pair of angularly related shoes having sliding engagement with adjacent walls of the carton and the inner edges thereof terminating adjacent said beaded or projecting edge, a

cutting tool mounted upon one of said shoes, and means connecting said shoes forming :a throat in which the said beaded or projecting edge of the carton is received.

5. A carton opening implement adapted for opening a carton having a beaded or projecting edge comprising a-pair of angularly related shoes having sliding engagement with adjacent walls of the carton and the inner edges thereof terminating adjacent said beaded or projecting edge, a cutting tool mounted upon one of said shoes, means connecting said shoes forming a throat in which the said beaded or projecting edge of the carton is received, and said means forming a hand grip portion.

6. A carton opening implement adapted for opening a carton having a beaded or projecting edge comprising a pair of angularly related shoes having sliding engagement with adjacent Walls of the carton and theinner edges thereof terminating adjacent said beaded or projecting edge, webs extending therefrom in spaced relationship to form a throat to receive said beaded or projecting edge and connected at their outer ends, and a cutting tool mounted upon one of said shoes.

7. A carton opening implement adapted for opening a carton having a beaded or projecting edge comprising a carrier formed of sheet metal including a pair of angularly related shoes having sliding engagement with adjacent walls of the carton and connected in spaced relationship by a portion forming a throat to receive said beaded or projecting edge, and a cutting tool mounted upon one of said shoes.

CHARLES H. GROUNDS. 

